Tuesday, July 03, 2012

It was July, 1987, twenty-five years ago. Can it really be so long? My whole family sat down to watch. The opening scene, then my sisters started quoted along with the show. "Willows whiten, aspens quiver..." I had no idea what they reciting, but I wanted in. Two days later my da bought me Tennyson's collected works and I caught up.

Welcome to my "Anne of Green Gables" addiction.

I own six copies of Anne, an Anne pop-up book, paper doll set, the dvds, the audio books, dolls, yarn and more. I loved the books so much for a while there I never read anything else. The television series was watched constantly, especially when I was unwell. I was sixteen and on the couch and I could watch the full 3.5 hours twice a day. With a large teapot beside me I was in heaven. I suspect my mother may have hated the mini-series after a while (except for the line "Mrs Hammond told me God made my hair red on purpose and I've never cared for Him since").

There's a few knits out there dedicated to Anne. "Green Gable" is incredibly popular, as is the "Anne Shirley" scarf. Nearly every knitter who's read the books has wondered how to make an apple-leaf cotton warp quilt, just like Mrs Lynde, and Franklin Habit made a Star Counterpane Block based on it at Knitty.com.The most desired is the blue cardigan from the mini-series.The number of whimpers when it appears on screen is ridiculous.

Last night while browsing Ravelry, a new shawl pattern was listed in the top 20 and it's name caught my eye straight away. "Call Me Cordelia" is an amazing shawl, and I might have to add it to my future knits list (plus, it's in purple!). The magic words "The second of my LM Montgomery inspired patterns." caught my eye and sent me off to look.

Anyone else want to join in a knit along for the "Lover's Lane" beret?

(First big crush? Jonathan Crombie, just like every other girl who watched the series. His successor was a cute guy on the cover of a knitting pattern book.)